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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23787874">Spider Cuddles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades'>TheAsexualofSpades</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Quarantine Drabbles [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>CIVIL WAR DID NOT HAPPEN AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, May and Natasha are best friends and imma die on this hill, Natasha's gonna give him one, Nightmares, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, a lil bit of angst, baby spider, momma spider</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:00:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23787874</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter has a habit of hiding and sleeping in very strange places, what with his ability to scamper up walls like, well, a spider. This doesn't make it easy to find him when he hides from them. </p><p>Mamma Spider to the rescue.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>May Parker (Spider-Man) &amp; Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker &amp; Avengers Team, Peter Parker &amp; Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Quarantine Drabbles [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677655</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>798</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Spider Cuddles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>a sort of follow up to the earlier drabble??? i wanted more momma spider being momma spider</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fandom: Marvel (MCU)</p><p>Prompt: “Shh, it was just a bad dream. Just a dream, okay? None of it was real.”</p>
<hr/><p>Natasha knows a lot about sleeping in strange places.</p><p> </p><p>Missions aren’t exactly known for their cozy beds and five-star lodging. The lucky ones she gets a three-star normally, <em>very </em>rarely a five-star if she’s there for a target. More often than not she’s outdoors, manufacturing some lean-to, or curled up in the rafters of a roof that she’s sure won’t fall in the night.</p><p> </p><p>She, however, is limited—albeit not as much as the average person—by the constraints of gravity. Clint gripes about how much easier it would be if they could just bring the floating platforms with them everywhere they go but alas, they cannot. Stark wouldn’t let them hear the end of it.</p><p> </p><p>But here’s the thing. Peter can stick to walls.</p><p> </p><p>He confessed to her one time that if you put him in an identical cube, with all six sides looking exactly the same, he’d forget which way was up and which way was down. Worrying slightly over how exactly this possibility entered his head, Natasha made a note to pay attention to where the baby spider climbed to make sure he wouldn’t get washed away.</p><p> </p><p>Children’s nursery rhymes had a habit of getting stuck in her head, okay?</p><p> </p><p>The other thing about Peter is that he’s light. Spider DNA messes with his physiology so he weighs 88 lbs even which is…worrying. Stark and Banner checked him out, so he’s fine, but still.</p><p> </p><p>Natasha’s strong but she’s not sling-along-child-like-a-hacky-sack strong. That’s Rogers’ turf.</p><p> </p><p>So when Peter’s hiding somewhere it takes a bit more thinking to figure out where he is. After all, the day Stark screamed bloody murder at finding Peter curled up in the top corner near the ceiling of the lab stayed on the Tower hard drive for a solid month. Poor Peter just blinks awake and scuttles down. Kid bounces off the walls most of the time but when he’s upset he gravitates toward high places. Clint finds him most often because of that when Peter wants to be found.</p><p> </p><p>It’s a few days after the night Peter woke up from a terrible nightmare and dragged Steve around the tower to make sure Tony was still alive. Natasha remembers the two of them in the kitchen, Peter looking even smaller than normal curled around a mug of hot chocolate. The group goes on high alert for a little, May coming to stay with them for a few days to help Peter calm down. Poor thing still shook the next morning, not wanting to let Tony out of his sight.</p><p> </p><p>Steve comes to find her in the afternoon, pulling her aside and glancing around.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s got you all buzzed, Rogers?” She smirks. “Did you steal Sam’s orange juice again?”</p><p> </p><p>“Peter’s missing,” Steve says and she drops straight into mission mode, “and Tony’s about to lose it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who saw him last?”</p><p> </p><p>“Bruce. Peter was helping him with an experiment.”</p><p> </p><p>“Where were they?”</p><p> </p><p>“Bruce’s lab.” Steve glances over her shoulder. “I don’t want to freak everyone out but Tony’s getting worse.”</p><p> </p><p>“Doesn’t he have Peter’s bio sig programmed?”</p><p> </p><p>“Peter’s figured out a way to block it.” A little pride colors both their voices. “Kid doesn’t want to be found right now.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha glances at the vent clanking mysteriously above them. She sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Barton do you have something or not?”</p><p> </p><p>Clint drops down beside them, face serious.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s in the corner of the garage, Nat. Up by the doors.”</p><p> </p><p>Steve tenses. Natasha swears under her breath. If the doors open, for any reason, Peter could be crushed. He knows this, why is he up there?</p><p> </p><p>“It’s closed off, Nat,” Clint murmurs, “one way in, one way out. He can see exactly what’s coming. And no one would think to look for him there.”</p><p> </p><p>“But he’s—“</p><p> </p><p>“I know, Nat.” Clint rests a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think kid’s thinking straight enough to realize how…”</p><p> </p><p>“Did he see you?” Steve breaks that train of thought off. “When you knew he was there?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know. I could see him and he could’ve looked up to see me but he was curled up real tight.”</p><p> </p><p>“How do we get up there?”</p><p> </p><p>Clint gives her a look. “C’mon, Nat, you’re not thinking of—okay, okay, you are. Uh, there’s a crane arm that hangs near the corner.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha nods sharply. “You two keep an eye on Stark. I’ll go fetch Peter.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, Momma Spider.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha cuffs Steve lightly upside the head as she leaves. Oh, Peter…</p><p> </p><p>The doors of the garage are proper Stark tech. Even with Peter’s abilities…</p><p> </p><p>Something must’ve spooked him really badly if the fear of getting crushed didn’t even enter his mind.</p><p> </p><p>The garage is open, high vaulted ceilings carrying the sounds of the whirring repair droids far and wide. Natasha’s footsteps echo just below the whine. She glances up at the crane arm. It’s positioned just below the door sensor.</p><p> </p><p>The steel rivets don’t groan as she scales them, hooking herself over each one and hauling her way to the top. She balances on the very edge of the last beam and sits on the outstretched arm, top of her head brushing the ceiling. Next to her is the tiny gap between the door and the rest of the wall. A tiny tuft of brown hair sticks out.</p><p> </p><p>“Peter?”</p><p> </p><p>There’s a little shuffling behind the steel and one eye appears.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Baby Spider,” Natasha calls, voice low and soothing, “whatcha doin’ up here?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hiding,” Peter mumbles, still ninety percent concealed in the corner.</p><p> </p><p>“Hiding from what, sweetie?”</p><p> </p><p>“Everything.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha leans forward, reaching one hand out to offer Peter some human contact. It takes a moment but then a soft hand curls with hers. She squeezes.</p><p> </p><p>“Why don’t you come out here and tell me about it?”</p><p> </p><p>Peter’s curls bounce back and forth as he shakes his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Why not, Baby Spider?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t wanna be left alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha’s heart clenches in her chest. She scoots forward. “What do you mean, Peter?”</p><p> </p><p>“…all of you left. A-after the fight. Y-you left me alone and then I—“ Peter’s voice hitches. “…I didn’t want any more of you to die.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha’s brow irons itself into a crease until she realizes what Peter’s talking about.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Baby Spider…” Natasha leans to run her fingers through Peter’s hair, scratching lightly at his scalp until he relaxes a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Shh, it was just a bad dream,” she soothes, brushing Peter’s curls back from his face, “just a dream, okay? None of it was real.”</p><p> </p><p>Her hand touches something damp, her throat automatically making a comforting sound at the evidence of tears.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re alright, Peter, we’re not going anywhere.” Peter looks up at her, peering out from underneath the mess she’s made of his hair. She smiles encouragingly. “Come on, Baby Spider, come here. Let me prove it.”</p><p> </p><p>Thank god Peter’s light. The force with which he launches himself at her is almost enough to knock her over, his arms wrapping tightly around her until he’s latched on like a koala. She returns the hug, pressing their chests together and tucking Peter’s head into the crook of her neck so he can feel her heart, her breathing.</p><p> </p><p>“I have you, Baby Spider, I have you.”</p><p> </p><p>Peter cries silently into her, letting Natasha rock him in her arms and rub his back until the tears slow. When she gently suggests they return to the ground, he doesn’t unstick himself, riding piggyback as she climbs back down. May meets them at the front of the garage, smiling at the sight of the baby spider riding on momma spider all the way down.</p><p> </p><p>“Peter,” May calls, smiling when Peter lifts his head to look at her, “are you okay, baby?”</p><p> </p><p>Peter’s red nose bobbles a little as he nods.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s good. Why don’t we get you back somewhere a little comfier, hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“…’m comfy here.” Peter snuggles further into Natasha.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s good, Baby Spider,” Natasha mumbles, hiding her face when May takes a picture. It’ll be in the group chat in no time.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on then, spiders,” May smiles, taking Natasha’s hand to lead them back down the hallway, “the others want to see you too.”</p><p> </p><p>Peter’s asleep by the time they get there, worn out from the nightmare. Natasha shoots a death glare at everyone that opens their mouth to make a comment about sleeping Peter clinging onto her, settling in their favorite bean bag chair and letting May wrap Peter’s favorite blanket around them.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s always done that,” May giggles, watching Peter nuzzle into the softness of the blanket, “wrapped around someone to fall asleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Even before the spider?”</p><p> </p><p>“Even then.” May pulls out her phone. “I’ve got pictures.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha leans over to look. May’s got a whole <em>folder </em>of them. They settle in to coo at small—well, small<em>er—</em>Peter, cuddled up in blankets, sweaters, the arms of people he cares about. Natasha’s favorite one is baby Peter snuggling the absolute hell out of a stuffed bear, clinging on to the corner of his crib.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m glad he’s got you,” May whispers when they get to the end of the folder.</p><p> </p><p>“Me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” May smiles. “Another spider.”</p><p> </p><p>Natasha glances down at Peter’s sleepy form.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m glad he’s here too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Come yell at me on tumblr while we're all in quarantine. </p><p>https://a-small-batch-of-dragons.tumblr.com/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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